Course catalog integration
Many webpages link to sections of the course catalog. Unfortunately, the URLs change when new catalogs are created. For example, the URL for the Bachelor's degree in History in the 2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog is:
https://catalog.k-state.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=47&poid=15826
However, in the 2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog, the URL for the same degree changed to:
https://catalog.k-state.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=54&poid=18662
Updating links every year is a maintenance nightmare.
Instead of using a standard link, use the following various catalog components to create evergreen links to the course catalog--links that will always point to the most recent undergraduate or graduate catalog. Links can be generated to catalogs, courses, programs, colleges, and departments.
| Task | Component |
| Link to a program | Catalog - program link |
| Link to a catalog | Catalog - catalog link |
| List catalogs | |
| Link to a course | Catalog - course link |
| List courses | Catalog - course list |
| Link to a department | Catalog - college or department link |
Limitations
These components can be used in normal webpage text. They can't be nested inside other components or in used in menu.pcf files.
These components only update links when new catalogs are added. If the name of item being linked changes in newer catalogs, links will be broken.
The catalog itself is occasionally offline. Pages loaded during outages will link to catalog.k-state.edu.